  This week Aidan's had a phantom fever off and on. It's been as high as 104, but typically more like 101 or 102. No other symptoms, plays well, acts happy, but burning up to the touch. He still hasn't brought in all his two-year molars, so it could be teeth. Aidan always did get high fevers with his teeth. A literature study in my childhood medicine books reveals that it could also be urlLink Roseola , but we won't know until he's had the fever for five to seven days, at which time he'll get a rash for a week or three, and no harm will be done by either the fever or the rash.
It's mosquito season here in Houston, so a mom's mind easily goes to mosquito-born diseases. Fortunately, I researched those last summer and found that almost all of them, even the dreaded West Nile Virus, present themselves as little more than a cold for everyone but the very young or very old (the immune-compromised), the air-delivered insecticides urlLink the city is pumping out are actually a bigger health risk than the bugs themselves. So, whatever it is, I think it's harmless, and now we're just riding the wave of fevers. Having said that, I've learned a great deal about fevers.
Back in the old days, fever itself was considered a disease. Now, it's understood to be an early immune response to a threat like a virus or bacteria. By elevating the body's temperature, the fever makes the body a poor environment for the invader to thrive and reproduce. This is why doctors now say to let a child's fever go untreated until it becomes a medical threat in itself, which is hardly ever. A child can safely have a fever of up to 107 before the temperature is a threat to the brain. Doctors interpret this by saying urlLink let the fever get to 101 or 102 before you treat it, but I felt I had a good enough handle on Aidan's fever that I didn't treat it with a fever reducer until 104, and that only happened one day. The rest of the time, we've depended upon peppermint and anise teas (sweetened with a little honey), boiled (then cooled) lemon water-soaked socks, and tepid baths (usually with sage and/or eucalyptus oil) any time the fever looked spiky. The teas promote perspiration, which is a gentle way to cool the body, the oils are calming and immuno-supportive, and the lemon water socks are a wives' tale that I've heard from two different cultures that works, despite not being understood.
I appreciated these more subtle measures because I just wanted to bring it back down to the safe range, not obliterate it all together. The most interesting thing I've come across was the fever chapter in Aviva Jill Romm's Naturally Healthy Babies and Children. She points out that fever is now considered a stimulant for the immune system, and worries that the common practice of suppressing the body's natural immune responses such as treating fevers is contributing to the rise of autoimmune diseases.
She goes on to say this: "Fever has another effect that often goes unnoticed. When children recover from a fever, they often demonstrate new skills and abilities. It is as if the heat of the fever served as a motivating developmental force. After a fever, a child frequently seems even stronger and healthier than before, as if impurities had been burned away, leaving the pure gold of the child's soul.
While non of us wants our child to be ill, in our efforts to eradicate all illnesses with any means necessary, we have forgotten to see the subtler nature of the natural physical response. " Romm is arguing that a fever is like your body's defrag tool! The kids have gone through a few fevers since I first read it, and I felt less afraid and more comfortable with their body's ability to handle its health simply from considering what Romm termed the subtler nature of the natural physical response. I try to remind myself that humans never would have survived as a species if our bodies weren't so good at healing themselves. 
